This invention relates generally to insect traps and fly swatters. More particularly, the present invention relates to a hand held fly swatter apparatus capable of being configured to capture insects alive from given surfaces to allow their subsequent disposal.
Insects have always been pests within a household, and countless devices for trapping, poisoning and/or otherwise destroying them have been devised. Most of such devices are concerned with the wholesale liquidation of all insects in a home; those which are readily seen, such as spiders, flies, gnats, mosquitoes or other flying or crawling varieties, and those which are generally unseen, such as roaches, termites, earwigs, etc.
However, for the occasional spider, earwig, sow bug, or like crawling insect, the only recourse to their capture and/or removal from a household is to first kill them by squashing them with a fly swatter, a rolled-up newspaper, etc., or by stepping on them if the insect is on the floor, and then removing the remains with a piece of paper, tissue or some implement. Such action generally results in the insect being partially or wholly squashed and thus smeared on the ceiling, wall, floor, window, window blinds, etc. The resulting smear is generally very difficult to clean and many times results in permanently staining the area where the insect was destroyed.
There are many persons who prefer not to destroy an insect but would rather capture it alive for subsequent disposal in the outdoors. These people are faced with the sometimes unpleasant, and generally unsuccessful prospect of picking up the insect with their fingers, which could result in a bite or other discomfort, or with some implement which generally results in at least partially maiming the insect.
Other individuals wish only to capture insects in order to study them and free them soon thereafter. It is common practice to capture a specimen by quickly slipping an inverted jar over the same, but it often happens that before the jar is capped the captive escapes. Many devices for capturing insects which overcome this problem are complicated and expensive.
Accordingly, there has been a need for a dual purpose apparatus providing, alternatively, an insect trap and a fly swatter. Such a dual purpose device would eliminate the necessity to have two separate home implements available for dealing with unwanted pests. Further, such an apparatus is needed which is configured to quickly and conveniently capture insects alive from a given surface to allow their subsequent disposal, either by releasing them unharmed or by drowning the pest prior to its release from the apparatus. Additionally, a novel combination fly swatter and insect trap is needed which is of simplified construction, easy to utilize by children and adults alike, sturdy, and which can be utilized as a replacement for the common fly swatter. The present invention fulfills these needs and provides other related advantages.